Writers Guild of America West

The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild.[2] It has around 20,000 members.[3][4]

Writers Guild of America West
Full nameWriters Guild of America West
Founded1954 (1954)
Members10,559 (full members)
13,881 (other members) (2019)
AffiliationInternational Affiliation of Writers Guilds
Key people
  • David A. Goodman, President
  • Marjorie David, Vice President
  • Aaron Mendelsohn, Secretary/Treasurer
Office locationLos Angeles, California
CountryUnited States
Websitewww.wga.org
[1]

History
Total membership (US records)[5]
Writers Guild of America West building at the corner of 3rd and Fairfax

The Screen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed in 1921 by a group of ten screenwriters in Hollywood angered over wage reductions announced by the major film studios. The group affiliated with the Authors Guild in 1933 and began representing TV writers in 1948. In 1954, the SWG was one of five groups who merged to represent professional writers on both coasts and became the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe) and West (WGAw). Howard J. Green and John Howard Lawson were the first two presidents during the SWG era.[6] Daniel Taradash was president of the WGAw from 1977 to 1979.

In 1952, the Guild authorized movie studios to delete onscreen credits for any writers who had not been cleared by Congress, as part of the industry's blacklisting of writers with alleged Communist or leftist leanings or affiliations.

From March to August 1988, WGAw members were on strike against the major American television networks in a dispute over residuals from repeat airings and foreign/home video use of scripted shows and made-for-TV movies. The 22-week strike crippled American broadcast television and drove millions of viewers, disgusted with the lack of new scripted programming, to cable channels and home video, a blow to ratings and revenues from which, some industry watchers argue, the networks have never fully recovered.[7]

In 2004, Victoria Riskin resigned as WGAw President after being accused by her opponent Eric Hughes during the 2003 election of using a sham writing contract to maintain her membership status.[8] She was replaced by vice-president Charles Holland, who resigned a few weeks later when questions arose about statements he had made about his college football career and his claim of having secretly served in combat as a Green Beret, a claim his army records did not support.[9] After Riskin's resignation, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the sham contract and concluded that Riskin was indeed ineligible to run.[10] The WGAw entered into a settlement by offering to re-run the election under DOL supervision. A new election was held in September 2004 between Eric Hughes and Daniel Petrie, Jr. which Petrie won.

On April 17, 2019, WGA West and WGA East filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the four dominant Hollywood talent agencies, William Morris Agency, Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency and ICM Partners, citing movie packaging fee practices, which the WGA asserts are a violation of state and federal laws.[11] Approximately 95 percent of Guild members voted "in favor of a code of conduct that would cease packaging fees."[12]

During the week following its lawsuit filing; en masse, over 7,000 Guild members fired their talent agents, as "not just drastically out-earning them, but preventing them from receiving better pay."[12] WGA president David A. Goodman was then quoted as stating to NPR "that in a period of unprecedented profits and growth of our business ... writers themselves are actually earning less".[13]

Reality united

In June 2005, WGAw started a "reality rights" campaign to allow writers of reality television shows to qualify for guild rights and benefits.[14] The union maintained that the storytellers who conceive the tests and confrontations on such shows were bona fide writers.[15] The Guild also expressed concern the 1988 strike showed that lack of representation in the genre would weaken their future bargaining position.[16] Studio executives maintained that these employees were primarily editors, not writers, and that the shows needed to appear to be unscripted in order for viewers to feel they were "real."[17]

As part of this campaign, on September 20, 2006 the WGAw held a Los Angeles unity rally in support of the America's Next Top Model writers' strike. President Patric Verrone said, "Every piece of media with a moving image on a screen or a recorded voice must have a writer, and every writer must have a WGA contract."[18]

On November 6, 2006, the WGAw filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after Top Model producers said the show's next season would be produced using a new system that would not require writers. In response, Verrone said, "as they demanded union representation, the company decided they were expendable. This is illegal strikebreaking."[19]

2007–08 strike
Main article: 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike

On November 2, 2007, the Guild again went on strike, this time over writers' share of revenues from DVD releases and from Internet, cellphone shows, and other new media uses of programs and films written by members. The strike vote followed the expiration of the guild's contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.[20]

Governance

The WGAw is governed by its membership. Elections for a board of directors are held annually by secret mail-in ballot. Half of the board is elected each year to a two-year term of office, and a board member may not serve more than four consecutive terms. In 2017 the officers are:[21]

David Young is employed as the Guild's executive director and Tony Segall is general counsel. Young served as the Guild's chief negotiator during the 2007 contract negotiations and subsequent 100-day strike.

According to WGAw's Department of Labor records since 2006, over half of the guild's total membership is ineligible to vote, comprising the guild's "post current," "emeritus," and "associate" members.[5]

Magazine

The WGAw has published its official publication, the journal Written By, which it describes as "the magazine of America's Storytellers", six times a year since 1997.

gollark: Wait, 400V? Sounds nonstandard.
gollark: One of the few things the UK got right is electrical standards. We have very safe power sockets which all come with earth pins.
gollark: or is it?
gollark: why.
gollark: Yes, mine too.

See also

References
  1. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-078. Report submitted June 27, 2019.
  2. "Writers Guild of America West" (PDF). wga.org. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  3. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-078. Report submitted June 27, 2014.
  4. WGAW Annual Report to Writers
  5. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-078. (Search)
  6. "WGAw website historical timeline". Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  7. Spitzer, Gabriel (2001-01-15). "Ouch! Remembering the 1988 writers' strike". Media Life Magazine. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  8. Bates, James (7 January 2004). "Writers Guild Chief Resigns Under Pressure". Retrieved 18 September 2017 – via LA Times.
  9. "The last bastion: infiltrating the ranks of executives and creatives is the current challenge for African-Americans in the entertainment industry.(NAACP Image Awards)(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) - HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". business.highbeam.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  10. "Writers Guild of America West". Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  11. Littleton, Cynthia; Donnelly, Matt (2019-04-17). "GA Sues Talent Agencies in Battle Against Packaging Fees". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  12. Donnelly, Matt (2019-04-22). "Writers Guild Says Over 7,000 Members Have Fired Agents". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  13. Ingber, Sasha (2019-04-13). "'Uncharted Waters': Union Tells Hollywood Writers To Fire Their Agents". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  14. Holland, Lila (2005-07-08). "The writers of reality TV sue for rights". TV.com. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  15. T (pseudoanonymous), N (2005-07-08). "A "Reality Slap" in the Face". WGAW. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
  16. Lowry, Bryan (2007-10-30). "WGA Baits but Switches on Reality". Variety. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
  17. Booth, William (2004-08-10). "Reality is Only an Illusion, Writers Say". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
  18. Grossman, Ben (2006-09-20). "WGA's Verrone: "Every Writer Must Have a WGA Contract"". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
  19. Benson, Jim (2006-11-07). "Top Model Takes Strikers Off Payroll". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  20. Britt, Russ (2007-11-02). "Writers Guild calls strike; walkout may start Monday". CBS MarketWatch.com. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  21. "Presidents". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
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